Cells make up every living thing. Take a look at all the living things you can see just in your house. You can start off with you and your family. If you have any pets, be sure to include them. Don’t forget about houseplants as well – they’re alive. Now take a walk outside. You’ll likely see many more plants, as well as animals like birds and insects. Now imagine if all those living things were gone. That’s how it would be if there were no cells, because cells are what all those living things are made of.
Animals, plants and other living things look different, and contain many different kinds of cells, but when you get down to it, all of us are just a bunch of cells – and that makes cells pretty much the most important thing when it comes to life!
Here’s a video on the difference between animal and plant cells:
Are you wondering what all the different organelles are inside the cell? Here’s a video that goes into all the cool detail (note – this video is more for advanced students):
Now pull out your science journal! As you watch this video below, write down the organelles you see and describe what you think is happening.
What’s going on?
The endoplasmic reticulum, shown in red, transports proteins to the Golgi Apparatus, shown in blue. The Golgi Apparatus packages proteins and sends them where they are needed, either in the cell, or to the cell membrane for transport out of the cell.